The last ten minutes decide everything: how to secure a big deal without giving away your final concession.
C1 · Monologue · 5 Min. · free
Tip: listen to the episode twice before you start the test. · Worksheet (PDF)
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Transcript
Key phrases
Language notes
In this episode a negotiation coach explains the final phase of big deals: give concessions only in trade, hold the last one in reserve, signal finality credibly — then stay silent. You learn the key endgame phrases and the false friend "übernehmen ≠ overtake" (level C1).
The linguistic core of the endgame is the conditional: "If you can commit to a three-year term, then we could look at the service fee." The if-clause ties the concession to something in return; "could" and "would look at" keep it non-binding until the other side delivers. Under pressure, German speakers often drop the if-clause — and give away exactly what they meant to trade.
Staying silent after the final offer is hard in every culture, but German and British negotiators fail differently: Germans tend to fill the silence with additional factual arguments (and sound unsure), Brits with lightening remarks (and undercut the finality). The rule holds for both: whoever speaks first after "That is as far as we can go" is negotiating against themselves.
German "übernehmen" maps to different English verbs depending on context: Kosten übernehmen = "to cover the costs" (also "to bear" or "to assume the costs"), eine Aufgabe übernehmen = "to take on a task", eine Firma übernehmen = "to take over a company". "To overtake" is never one of them — it only means to pass. Especially in the endgame, when every word is a signal, this precision pays: "Clarity is currency."
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Frequently asked questions
Level C1 (CEFR). The monologue uses advanced negotiation English with idiomatic phrases; the vocabulary list explains all eight key terms bilingually.
In four steps: give every concession only in trade ("If … then …"), hold the final concession in reserve, signal finality once and credibly ("That is as far as we can go on price") — and stay silent after the last offer.
No. "To overtake" means to pass (for example on the motorway). Correct is "to cover the costs", alternatively "to bear" or "to assume the costs".
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